Each year over 1.1 million Americans have a myocardial infarction, usually as a result of a heart attack. These myocardial infarctions result in an immediate depression in ventricular function and all of these infarctions are very likely to expand, provoking a cascading sequence of myocellular events known as ventricular remodeling. In many cases, this progressive myocardial infarct expansion and ventricular remodeling leads to deterioration in ventricular function and heart failure.
Post myocardial infarct drug therapy may attenuate many factors that accelerate this remodeling. More recently, medical devices have been developed which provide surgeons with limited tools to support modest intervention with respect to this remodeling situation. However, cardiologists and interventional cardiologists and cardiac surgeons presently lack any devices or procedures for directly attacking this remodeling problem.
A myocardial infarction (MI) occurs when a coronary artery becomes occluded and can no longer supply blood to the myocardial tissue. When a myocardial infarction occurs, the myocardial tissue that is no longer receiving adequate blood flow dies and is replaced with scar tissue. Within seconds of a myocardial infarction, the under-perfused myocardial cells no longer contract, leading to abnormal wall motion, high wall stresses within and surrounding the infarct, and depressed ventricular function. The infarct expansion and ventricular remodeling are caused by these high stresses at the junction between the infarcted tissue and the normal myocardium. These high stresses eventually kill or severely depress function in the still viable myocardial cells. This results in a wave of dysfunctional tissue spreading out from the original myocardial infarct region.
According to the American Heart Association, in the year 2000 approximately 1,100,000 new myocardial infarctions occurred in the United States. For 650,000 patients this was their first myocardial infarction, while for the other 450,000 patients this was a recurrent event. Two hundred-twenty thousand people suffering MI die before reaching the hospital. Within one year of the myocardial infarction, 25% of men and 38% of women die. Within 6 years, 22% of Men and 46% of women develop chronic heart failure, of which 67% are disabled.
The consequences of MI are often severe and disabling. In addition to immediate hemodynamic effects, the infarcted tissue and the myocardium or cardiac tissue undergo three major processes: Infarct Expansion, Infarct Extension, and Ventricular Remodeling. All myocardial infarctions undergo these processes. However, the magnitude of the responses and the clinical significance is related to the size and location of the myocardial infarction (Weisman H F, Healy B. “Myocardial Infarct Expansion, Infarct Extension, and Reinfarction: Pathophysiological Concepts,” Progress in Cardiovascular Disease 1987; 30:73-110; Kelley S T et al., “Restraining Infarct Expansion Preserves Left Ventricular Geometry and Function After Acute Anteroapical Infarction,” Circulation 1999, 99: 135-142). Myocardial infarctions that destroy a higher percentage of the normal myocardium and myocardial infarctions that are located anteriorly on the heart are more likely to become clinically significant.
Infarct expansion is a fixed, permanent, disproportionate regional thinning and dilatation of the infarct zone. Infarct expansion occurs early after a myocardial infarction. The mechanism is slippage of the tissue layers.
Infarct extension is additional myocardial necrosis following myocardial infarction. Infarct extension results in an increase in total mass of infarcted tissue. Infarct extension occurs days after a myocardial infarction. The mechanism for infarct extension appears to be an imbalance in the blood supply to the peri-infarct tissue versus the increased oxygen demands on the tissue.
When a myocardial infarction occurs, the myocardial tissue that is no longer receiving adequate blood flow dies and is replaced with scar tissue. This infarcted tissue cannot contract during systole, and may actually undergo lengthening in systole and leads to an immediate depression in ventricular function. This abnormal motion of the infarcted tissue can cause delayed conduction of electrical activity to the still surviving peri-infarct tissue and also places extra mechanical stress on the peri-infarct tissue. These factors individually and in combination contribute to the eventual myocardial dysfunction observed in the myocardial tissue remote from the site of the infarction.
The processes associated with infarct expansion and ventricular remodeling are believed to be the result of high stresses exerted at the junction between the infarcted tissue and the normal myocardium (i.e., the ped-infarct region). In the absence of intervention, these high stresses will eventually kill or severely depress function in the adjacent myocardial cells. As a result, the peri-infarct region will therefore grow outwardly from the original infarct site over time. This resulting wave of dysfunctional tissue spreading out from the original myocardial infarct region greatly exacerbates the nature of the disease and can often progress into advanced stages of congestive heart failure (CHF).
Ventricular remodeling is progressive enlargement of the ventricle with depression of ventricular function. Myocyte function in the myocardium remote from the initial myocardial infarction becomes depressed. Ventricular remodeling usually occurs weeks to years after myocardial infarction. There are many potential mechanisms for ventricular remodeling, but it is generally believed that the high stress on peri-infarct tissue plays an important role. Due to altered geometry, wall stresses are much higher than normal in the myocardial tissue surrounding the infarction. This is depicted in FIG. 2, which illustrates an infarcted region bulging outward from the free wall as compared to the normal heart depicted in FIG. 1. Such bulging is most likely to occur during systole.
Theoretical analysis has shown very high stress levels in the myocardial border with the infarcted tissue (Bogen D. K. et al., “An Analysis Of The Mechanical Disadvantage Of Myocardial Infarction In The Canine Left Ventricle,” Circulation Research 1980; 47:728-741). Stress was shown to range 3 to 4 times higher than normal in the peri-infarct region, and the level of stress increase was fairly independent of infarct size, but diminished with increasing infarct stiffness. Three-dimensional reconstructions of the left ventricle were made from short-axis fast cine-angiographic computed tomography slices obtained from patients. This analysis showed a higher than normal stress index in the myocardium adjacent to the infarcted tissue (Lessick J. et al., “Regional Three-Dimensional Geometry And Function Of Left Ventricles With Fibrous Aneurysms: A Cine-Computed Tomography Study,” Circulation 1991; 84:1072-1086).
High wall stress can directly damage myocytes. While there are other potential mechanisms, the inventors of the present invention have recognized that the skeletal muscle literature suggested that the high wall stress can lead to cellular dysfunction and damage. This mechanism, as proposed by the inventors as applied to myocytes, is discussed in more detail hereinbelow.
Exertion-induced muscle injury is a well-described phenomenon in skeletal muscle. Prolonged activities that include eccentric contractions or require high stress are more likely to cause injuries. In humans, stretching skeletal muscles during contraction (eccentric contraction) leads to a long lasting muscle weakness (McHugh M P, et al, “Electromyographic Analysis Of Exercise Resulting In Symptoms Of Muscle Damage,” Journal of Sports Sciences 2000; 18:163-72). Muscle biopsies from humans that had performed a step test involving concentric contractions showed muscle damage. This damage was present immediately after exercise, and becomes more noticeable at 1 to 2 days (Newham D J et al, “Ultrastructural Changes after Concentric and Eccentric Contractions of Human Muscle,” J. Neurological Sciences 1983; 61:109-122). The ‘cellular theory’ predicts that the initial muscle damage is the result of irreversible sarcomere strain during high stress contractions. Sarcomere lengths are highly non-uniform during eccentric contractions, with some sarcomeres stretched beyond extremes causing myofilaments to overlap. Loss of contractile integrity results in sarcomere strain and is seen as the initial stage of damage (McHugh M P, et al, “Exercise-Induced Muscle Damage And Potential Mechanisms For The Repeated Bout Effect,” Sports Medicine 1999; 27:157-70). Sarcomere abnormalities include disrupted sarcomeres, wavy Z-lines, and sarcomeres with no overlap between myofilaments (Fielding R A, et al, “Effects Of Prior Exercise On Eccentric Exercise-Induced Neutrophilla And Enzyme Release,” Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise 2000; 32:359-64). Myofibrillar disorganization is often focal, with adjacent normally appearing regions (Newham D J, et al, “Ultrastructural Changes after Concentric and Eccentric Contractions of Human Muscle,” J Neurological Sciences 1983; 61:109-122). The longest sarcomeres before high stress contractions are more likely to be damaged (Lieber R L and Friden J, “Mechanisms Of Muscle Injury After Eccentric Contractions,” Journal of Science and Medicine in Sport 1999; 2:253-65).
Not only are the muscles damaged, peak force is also decreased. This disease in force occurs immediately after exercise, and can persist for several days (Lepers R, et al, “The Effects of Prolonged Running Exercise on Strength Characteristics,” International Journal of Sports Medicine 2000; 21:275-80). In one study, peak force was reduced 46% to 58% immediately after high stress-induced injury (Warren G L, et al, “Strength Loss after Eccentric Contractions is Unaffected by Creatine Supplementation,” Journal of Applied Physiology 2000; 89:557-62). In mice, after exercise-induced injury, peak force was immediately reduced by 49%, partially recovered between 3 and 5 days, but was still depressed at 14 days (−24%) (Ingalls C P, et al, “Dissociation of Force Production from MHC and Actin Contents in Muscles Injured by Eccentric Contractions,” Journal Muscle Research Cellular Motility 1998; 19:215-24).
The skeletal muscle literature suggests that muscle tissue can be acutely injured by high stress. The present inventors have realized that stress-induced injury can also occur in cardiac muscle subjected to repeated high stress contractions which occur along the progressive boundaries of an initially-infarcted tissue site. High stresses in the peri-infarct region results in the death or dysfunction of otherwise viable tissue, resulting in a progressive increase in the size of damaged tissue. As new tissue is continuously subjected to high stresses, the tissue adjacent to it dies or becomes dysfunctional and results in a new, enlarged peri-infarct region.